London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Sep 12, 2026

Nick Kyrgios reveals message from Novak Djokovic and slams Rafael Nadal

Nick Kyrgios reveals message from Novak Djokovic and slams Rafael Nadal

Nick Kyrgios has revealed the message he received from Novak Djokovic after coming out in support of him, while the Australian took aim at Rafael Nadal and others for not showing more sympathy towards the world number one.

Djokovic had his visa cancelled for a second time on Friday by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, who claimed in his reasoning that the Serb’s continued presence in Australia could stoke anti-vax sentiment and put people off getting boosters.

The Serbian has been put back into detention until Sunday, when the case will be heard in Federal Court, but even if his latest appeal is successful the saga has severely hampered his preparations for the Australian Open – and his pursuit of a 21st Grand Slam title.

World No.1 Djokovic was taken back into detention on Saturday


Djokovic has found an unlikely ally in Kyrgios, with the two not always seeing eye-to-eye in the past, and the Aussie bad boy has slammed Hawke’s decision to cancel the visa for a second time and ridiculed his reasoning.

Speaking on his No Boundaries podcast, Kyrgios said: ‘This Hawke guy is like, “He’s a threat to our borders” and I’m just like, “Well no he’s not”. We’re treating him like he’s a weapon of mass destruction at the moment, but he’s literally here to play tennis.’

He added: ‘I honestly want him to f***ing win the event, I think it would be f***ing awesome. I want to walk around Melbourne with Novak’s mask on my face.

‘I just think if Australia as a whole dealt with Covid better, if the people of Melbourne didn’t get so f***ed over by everything in these f***ing rules, I don’t think this would be such a big issue.’

Kyrgios feels the situation surrounding Djokovic has become a ‘s***show’


The 26-year-old also revealed that Djokovic had reached out to him after his public message of support, with Kyrgios taking aim at the players – notably Nadal – who have criticised the defending Australian Open champion and feels they should have offered more support even if they disagreed with his decision not to get vaccinated.

He continued: ‘It actually p***es me off how [Stefanos] Tsitsipas and Nadal and stuff are all… obviously everyone has got their opinion, and that’s fine, I understand Nadal and Tsitsipas all have to speak out about it when they get asked.

‘But I feel like we’re only treating him like Novak Djokovic, not like a human. Imagine how he’s feeling, he probably just wants a little bit of support from other players. He’s getting it from me! Like, what the f***?

‘I just feel like these athletes should give him some support. I’m sure if Nadal was in a similar situation he would be looking towards his other fellow athletes to stand up for him and help him.

‘Novak has reached out to me personally over Instagram to say thank you for standing up for him, I was not the one he was expecting to go out in the media and have his back.

Nadal had little sympathy for the unvaccinated Djokovic


‘I think he’s obviously feeling quite alienated in all of this and as a human it’s a dangerous place to be when you feel like the world is against you and you can’t do anything right and all he wants to do is come here and play tennis. I think on a human level he needs some support from other tennis players.

‘Tsitsipas we understand you have your views on f***ing vaccination, [Andy] Murray we can always count on you to say the right think, and like Nadal whatever… but bro, where’s your support for the guy?’

Reading out the message he received from Djokovic, Kyrgios added: ‘He goes: “Trying to actually understand the situation and have a bit of objectivity rather than fire all bullets right away, I appreciate that thank you.” So he’s just asking for a bit of understanding, that’s literally what he’s saying.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese Crypto Entrepreneur Leon Li Identified as Seller of £190 Million London Mansion
Trades Union Congress Proposes Social Energy Tariff Funded by Higher Bank Surcharge
British Chambers of Commerce Calls for State Pension Triple Lock to Be Scrapped
Anthropic Says Claude Helped Disrupt Biological Weapons and Cyber Espionage Threats
UK Imposes Sanctions Over Israeli Settlements and West Bank Violence
UK Reimposes Sectoral Sanctions on Iran’s Aviation, Shipping and Energy Networks
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as AI and Programming Services Lift Activity
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill by 286 Votes to 270
UK Reviews Nationwide Emergency Alert Tests After Systems Meet Reliability Targets
UK Seeks Faster Rail Links Across Northern Industrial Corridors
British Business Bank Allocates £150 Million for High-Growth Companies in Northern England
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Possible Amid Pay Dispute and £500 Million Savings Drive
UK Backs Short Extension of UN Sudan Sanctions Regime
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Defends Early Prison Release Reforms and Growth Strategy
Reform UK Faces Scrutiny Over Alleged Effort to Circumvent Foreign Donation Rules
UK Analysts Warn Tax Rises or Spending Cuts May Be Needed to Preserve Fiscal Headroom
Jaguar Land Rover Plans Up to 4,000 Job Cuts in £1.7 Billion Cost-Saving Drive
UK Chancellor Warns of Difficult October Budget as Borrowing Costs Rise
UK Declares Israeli Occupation of West Bank Unlawful and Expands Sanctions
UK House of Commons Rejects Assisted Dying Bill for England and Wales
English Councils to Gain Power to Introduce Tourist Taxes by 2028
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Shadow Cabinet
Firefighters Make Progress Containing Major Wildfires in South Wales
John Lewis Partnership Reports £124 Million Loss
Study Says UK AI Data Centres Will Create Only a Quarter of Forecast Jobs
UK Government Considers Higher Industrial Water Prices Amid Supply Pressures
Andy Burnham Holds First Call With Donald Trump as UK Prime Minister
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record as Heatwaves Drive Hospital Admissions
Home Secretary Orders Police Crackdown on Far-Right Anti-Migrant Vigilantes
UK Supreme Court Rules Northern Ireland Religious Education Curriculum Breaches Human Rights Standards
Markets Price in Four Bank of England Rate Rises by Next Summer
House of Commons Prepares Free Vote on Assisted Dying Bill
UK Government Bans Trade With Israeli Settlements in Occupied Territories
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Artificial Intelligence Investment Supports Expansion
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister After Keir Starmer Resigns
John Lewis Partnership Loss Widens to £124 Million
UK Government to Put White Working-Class Social Mobility at Centre of Equality Policy
McLaren Plans £450 Million Technology Investment Creating 1,000 UK Jobs
UK Chancellor Faces Calls for Wealth Taxes and Public Ownership in Autumn Budget
English Mayors to Gain Powers to Impose Uncapped Overnight Tourist Taxes
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Government Against Bank Windfall Taxes
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
UK Imposes Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank
UK Borrowing Costs Surge as Middle East Tensions Push Long-Term Gilt Yields to Highest Since 1998
Buckingham Palace Says Prince Harry and Meghan Will Not Resume Official Royal Duties
UK Treasury Faces Calls to Scrap £100,000 Childcare Support Threshold
Trades Union Congress Urges Labour Government to Rewrite Migration Policy
Riot Police Deployed After Anti-Migrant Protests Turn Violent in Portsmouth
UK Considers Replacing Some Disability Cash Payments With Direct Services
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Chancellor Against Higher Banking Taxes
×